


The Hunter's Successor

by ColdCoffins



Series: Heroes of Yharnam Tales [2]
Category: Bloodborne (Video Game), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: BNHA crossover, Bloodborne crossover, Gen, M/M, Multi, bnha Bloodborne crossover, see how far it goes, yep still writing this
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-06-12 21:17:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,258
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15348927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ColdCoffins/pseuds/ColdCoffins
Summary: The hunter all might is running out of time to continue his duty. He needs a successor to satisfy the church’s demands. Can he and the church spy Aizawa find the right young hunter for the job?





	1. A Chance Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> We back. Thank you if you’ve made it this far. Truly. This is like most of my writing just something to improve upon later. So just trying to write better

“This way- keep up Aizawa!”

All Might dashes through the tight alley corridors of Yharnam. His boot steps sound off each time his soles meet the cobblestone street. The mighty hunter can barley be spotted as a grey blur of executioners garb as he runs between tall castle buildings.  
Streets signs hanging overhead bang about as he passes. Laundry set out to dry on rope stretching from window to window flaps as if in a tailwind.

“Quiet. I’m going.” Aizawa responds, though he doubts All Might can hear him as he runs along tiled roof tops from above. Using his restraint cloth to act as a grappling hook, it’s fibers loop tight around edges and spires so the spy can pull himself to lofty heights. His acrobatics could be described as cat-like.

Rushing forward, All Might only hoped they hadn’t closed the gate to the square yet. The great round square of cathedral ward was a gathering point for the people there, despite the fact it is an acting graveyard. The headstones lie in a evenly spaced circle around the foundation. In its center, a statued steeple. The place was also known for the church giants that often guarded it’s circular grounds. It was an open part of the city, so it was one of the few places the giants could fit with their monstrous height.  
The people didn’t have to fear the giants, if their heavy steps didn’t warn them of their presence the bell tied around their front did. Those sounds signaled to stay out of the way. Of course, their giant wielding axes also got that message across just fine.

  
Only today in Yharnam, one of the giant crew had decided to rampage rather than lumber about their rounds. It was making a mess of the square, toppling headstones, smashing the stone streets and stoking fear in the public of Cathedral Ward more than usual.

Who better to come to answer the call then a hunter.

The giants and hunters were around for the same reason, to protect the city and kill beasts. Only one had a far more developed brain than the other, thus making them effective defective giant hunters as well. And not just any hunter was coming to the scene, it would be All Might himself.

If he could get inside first.

All Might skids to a halt in front of the large iron barred gate that was an entrance to the square. In the state of panic, the gate had been closed to keep the giant from wandering in its destruction. Its thick metal rods formed a decorative yet towering barrier. If that didn’t prevent an entry through the gate, the crowd of people peering in only doubled its reinforcement. All Might tries the geared lever release near the gate with a good pull to find the gears locked in place. No way in.

Aizawa lands on a wall top before hopping down to meet the large hunter. The long cloth seems alive as it resettles around his neck like a serpent getting comfy. He approaches All Might’s side, folding his arms at the sight.

“The front gate is out of the question.” He states.

“Indeed!” All Might puts a hand under his chin in thought, his eyes sweeping the surrounding. “Finding a back door in is your speed Aizawa, do you have any ideas?”

  
As a church spy, this was true. When comparing a spy to an animal, one rarely used the image of a dog or cat. They thought of infiltrators, rats and snakes. What All Might had suggested was true, but Aizawa didn’t not think the comment was underhanded as well.

“Well…” Aizawa side-eyed All Might up and down once, “Do you suppose you could be thin enough to fit through the bars in your other form?”

With a choke of surprise at the suggestion, blood spurts from between All Might’s smile.

  
“...So no then?” Aizawa asks.

“W-why do you say these things!?” All Might sputters before giving another cough into the back of his hand.

“Then I have a different idea…” Aizawa says and he begins to approach the gate’s wall. All Might follows curiously, watching the spy look up at the wall’s top as he moves along it. He stops once the two hunters are far enough away from the eyes of the crowd.

“Can you lift me on your shoulders?” Aizawa turns to the larger, and far taller hunter. “I mean...are you able to…?”

“Of course! If I wasn’t able to do so, I wouldn’t.” All Might boasts. Somehow, Aizawa doubts the larger hunter, although All Might smiles on.

All Might steps up to the wall and crouches low to allow Aizawa to climb onto his shoulders. Aizawa perches on top of the larger hunter with grace - if most spies were rats, Aizawa was a cat himself.

“Up.” Aizawa pats All Might’s bicep as a signal for the man to stand. The larger hunter does, providing the spy with enough of a boost to reach the walls top. He climbs up, taking a moment to survey the court from beyond the wall.

“What do you see?” All Might cups his hands around either side of his mouth to insulate and project his voice to Aizawa only. It was harder than it seemed, being the man practically had to announce everything that he said.

What Aizawa does see is more urgent then he initially expected. Quickly, he drops some slack of the long cloth around his shoulders down the wallside for All Might to climb up.

“Things are more grave than we feared.” Aizawa grunts as he has to brace his legs against the wall when All Might grabs hold of the restraint cloths end. He must’ve weighed a ton- just how heavy was the church hunter? Muscle was denser than fat, and if All Might was one thing, it was muscle upon muscle. But...in his other form the man was just skin and bones--and he mentioned he lost weight due to his injury? It wasn’t rational at all.

“What is it?” All Might hefts himself onto the wall top, putting a flat hand above his eyes with a squint.

The giant was there for sure. Its figure was lanky yet powerful, the slight hunch in its back came from the weight of the giant axe in its hands. That axe was currently burying its blade in stone and crashing through tomb heads. Around its neck, the bell swung and clanged, its white cape and black healing church shawl whirled around its body with its broad powerful swings. Nearly all the tomb stone heads had been demolished or knocked about the square, yet the steepleesque statue in the center still stood.

  
Yet, something was out of place. The last All Might remebered, there was never a statue carved under the steeple...

A tiny statue, a statue curled up in a defensive ball, a person-like statue…

“You see it don’t you?” Aizawa says, “There’s a child down there. ‘Must have not made it out in time when they closed the gates.”

“If they try to make a run for it...they could become a target of the giants rage…” All Might grimaces before looking back to Aizawa. “How fast can you come up with a plan?”

“Give me a minute…” Aizawa crouches, looking down the wall, his brow furrowed in thought.

“Do we have a minute--”

All Might was about to say when a commotion broke out among the bystanding citizens at the gates front.

“Where are you going?!”

“Come back!”

“You’ll be killed!”

Aizawa and All Might can only watch as their hearts leap into their throats at the sight of a young boy slipping between the gate bars and running out wildly into the square. His arms pump at his sides. His legs are working in full horrified sprint, the sprint that kicked in when that remaining primal bit of the brain came back into function. Fight or flight. Run or die. His dark hair whipped in his speed.

There was no time for a plan of any sort.

Giving a deepthroated howl, the giant spots the boy. It begins to lumber closer with its axe ready in hand. The child skidds on his knees as he reaches the other boy under the center steeple, he holds out his hand, crying out to him.

A darkness flows over the two young boys, it blocks out the sun like clouds. The chill that comes from that darkness makes the boys’ hair rise. The giant’s frame stood behind them, its white pale skin formed a lunar visage. It was an eclipse of death rising up in front of the sun. With the axe held high above its head, the crescent blade of the moon was ready to fall down from the heavens.  
Both boys only have time to flinch, eyes clamped shut, they wait to be crushed beneath the heavy axe blade and rubble of the statue above them.

It doesn't come.

A second shadow darkens their forms, the shadow of a mighty shield to push back the moon. That wide shield wears an executioners garb,a long black engraved shawl flowing down his back with his thick blue-grey cape. His blonde hair shines like sunlight, two great glamourous rays springing up in a gravity defying ‘V’.

“It’s alright now, young men…”

A deep voice reverberates from the hunter standing in front of the boys. The hunter, who by using the two iron blocks clenched in his fists, allows the titanous axe blade to catch on their thick front, successfully parrying the crescent blade. Sparks of light fly forth from where the iron and axe meet, showering small embers down on the stone.

The sun? Was the sun protecting them?

With a roaring cry, the hunter musters all of his strength, and he shifts the axe so it hits the earth by his side. The impact sends up a grey cloud of stone and dust. A powerful lighting jab from his right, and the iron fist meets the axe blade. A ring bangs out like a high clash of thunder. The dark crescent blade cracks in a spiderweb pattern before shattering into the air. The dark shards rain down as a black ice, glinting dully in the light.

  
“I am here!”

There was no doubt in the boys mind, the hunter All Might had come. The hunter All Might was their defender. And despite the obvious terror of the situation, the two boys couldn’t help but stare frozen in awe at the sight of their savior as it all moved in a slow time loop.  
-His cape swishing with his golden bangs  
   and the black pieces of axe.                          

          falling down around them.

They dont notice when a spy crouches next to them and snatches them up around their waists. He moves seemingly weightless across the stone square, hopping fell tombstones. Using a barren dry tree, Aizawa jumps to a limb then to the wall top with a boy under each arm.

This leaves All Might all the room he needs to finish the rouge giant.

All Might coils the muscles in his legs and performs a leap that leaves a comet trail of dust. He propels himself to the giant’s height, his momentum carries him forward and makes him soar. At the top of his arc over the giant's head, All Might wraps his thick arms around the giant's neck in a reverse head lock.

“Cosmos….”

Every muscle in his shoulders, his arms, clenches as he pulls down in his fall.

The giant's feet leave the ground.

“SMASH!”

All Might thrusts forcefully downward with an elbow, and much like punting a leather ball to the earth, he craters the back of the giants head into the stone. The moon had crashed to earth. Its large body bounces off the surface of the plaza. An impact of seismic proportions shakes nearly all of cathedral ward.

Bells vibrate out the tune of victory into the city skies.

———————-

When the giant was determined to be out cold, the gates unlocked to allow the flood of Yharnam citizens to spill inside. A crowd quickly flocked around All Might, his height peeking above all the heads and noise.

While All Might would entertain his victory to the crowd, Aizawa had returned the two young boys to the ground. Both looked to be young men, still with much growing to do. Their eyes didn’t meet the spy, looking down into the stone street and perhaps hoping the ground would open under them and swallow them whole. They were asked the usual questions:  
‘Where are your parents?’  
‘Why are you alone?’  
‘What in the Gods name were you trying to achieve?’

The last question in particular was aimed at the dark haired boy with freckles who had notion to rush out in the midst of a giant’s rage. The dark haired boy twiddled his thumbs under the spy’s powerful glare and muttered his apology for acting on impulse.  
It was a sincere and fragile apology.  
The other child, short blonde hair sticking out in spikes with red eyes, grumbled his apology to the street..  
It was an apology of unwilling humility.

“Good. Now I want you both to return home. Now-“

“Aizawa, my friend!” All Mights voice boomed out as he approached in stride. He put his hands on his hips regarding the two boys with his trademark smile. “Ah boys, I’m sure my friend here gave you quite the tongue lashing!”

A look of wondering endearment crossed the boys faces as the craned their necks up to look at the hunter.

“That reminds me…” Aizawa speaks up, “Thank this man. If not for him you both could be a smear on a headstone.”

“Thank you sir All Might!” Both boys replied with more vigor in their words this time.  
Exuberance wasn’t often shown to the teacher reprimanding a student, but a parent while trying to make a convincing plea.

“You were both very brave! That shows character! Have you ever considered becoming young hunters--”

“Quiet.” Aizawa elbows the large hunter in his side, making him recoil with a hiss. “These boys don’t need more encouragement to do dangerous things. Both of you. Go home. Tell your parents were you’ve been.”

“Yes, sir.” Both reply again before turning and running off. Aizawa watches until the boys disappear from his sight behind the wall to a street.

The spy sighs, looking to All Might. “You can’t go asking any young person you see on the street to be a hunter. Particularly to someone so reckless...if that boy didn’t dream he’d be dead within the day.”

“No need to be so cold, Aizawa…” All Might gives a wry smile before stifling a cough. “What is bravery without a touch of...recklessness…” He sputters before dissolving into a coughing fit. He covers his mouth with his palm. The wet, hollow sound is enough for Aizawa to knit his brows in concern.

“Ah...it’s alright…” All Might gives a final choke before withdrawing his hand. Both note the beads of red that have misted there. “I’m not made of glass.” He straightens to his full height, only for his legs to buckle under him, leaving the large hunter to anchor his weight with a hand on a nearby brick wall with a grunt. Almost on reflect, Aizawa reaches to catch him.

“Blast…” All Might grits through clenched teeth. “My limit…”

“Come on…” Aizawa slings a thick muscled arm over his shoulder, “There’s too many eyes here.” His own legs wobble at taking on Toshinori’s weight. “Damn the gods...you’re heavy, you know that?”

  
“I’ve lost weight…”

“No matter. Just move with me.”

Aizawa was a farmer with a three legged horse slung across his back. Or, at least it felt so. The two hobble out of main view of the round square and into a tight alley. Pipes leak water from the brick wall sides, leaving shallow puddles that their boots splash through with cumbersome steps. Toshinori’s broad shoulders brush each wall side, a dampness coating their surface. It would do nicely to keep prying eyes away, a secluded slip between the buildings. No windows, just solid cobbled brick. Aizawa carefully lets All Might change his anchor point to brace the wall using one of his large hands. As Toshinori feels the brick’s cold wet surface under his palm, he surveys the thin alleyway again. All Might secretly hopes Aizawa forgives him as his chosen hiding spot conjures the notion of a rat to his mind. He was sure of the possibility that a few of the rodents were scampering away from their lumbering boots.

“Its a tight fit now...but you’ll adjust.” Aizawa states, patting Toshinori’s bicep.

“Y-yes...it…” All Might pauses before nearly spewing blood at the comment. “You keep saying these things!”

  
“All Might…?”

A light voice travels through the alley and every fiber of the two hunters being snaps tight. Both whip their sight to the direction of the exit, breath held in their lungs. Reckless. Aizawa shouldn’t have been surprised, anyone who would run out in front of a rampaging giant had a problem listening to elders. Go home he said.  
The boy didn’t go home. He now stood in that alley opening, eyes wide at the two hunters hunching near each other much like a creature that would be utterly frozen if caught feasting on the remains of what had been tossed in said alley that day. That creature was a rat, of course.

Shit.

The word comes to both hunters minds as thin trails of steam begin to seep off Toshinori’s body and vent up the damp alley walls like a clouding manhole plate.

 


	2. A Hunter's Path

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All Might and Aizawa are confronted by the boy from the square. He has an important question for the mighty hunter, All Might.

“All Might…?”

The scene was all beheld in a blink of an eye. Looking in from the entrance to the tight Yharnam city alleyway, the two hunters stood between its damp, black-bricked walls. A thin, lithe man dressed in torn, ragged garb. His black mess of long hair draped about his neck and shoulders along with the white scarf laying its coils like a heavy snake. Behind him, it could easily be mistaken for the smoking fog that often nests in the dank coldness of city corners, thick white streams of steam were emanating off the silhouetted form of...All Might--?  
  
SNAP!  
  
Such a short glimpse was all the young man was able to take in before one of the tails of the scarf ( which the young man immediately determined was not just an accessory anymore ) claps over his eyes. He barely notices when his torso is cocooned by the cloths length, it  constricts into a taut, hard fabric.

“What do you think you’re doing?” The low cool voice of the man in harrowed garb smoothly slithers to his ears, “If I recall correctly, I told you to run along home. Do you think all hunters will be this tolerant?”

Despite feeling the steam roll off his heated body, All Might can’t help but withdraw a shiver. Aizawa was not the most threatening figure-wise, yet the man was like some unnerving peacock. With the right glare and tone of voice, Aizawa became downright intimidating.  In a motion of pure empathy, Toshinori felt he had to spare the young man the freight.

“E...easy Aizawa!” All Might musters his best voice that didn’t sound like every muscle in his body was twitching at its limit. “What is this…this about young man?”

The boy swallows, taking a short second to recompose himself while being blinded and immobilized.

“I-I didn’t get the chance to properly thank you! And All Might- what you told me- did you mean it-do I have the potential to become a hunter!?”

Aizawa doesn't blink.

This kid.

This reckless kid.

He had seen this type before, the type that would rush into battle without thinking and use their weight in blood by the days end. If they didn’t dream, the plague would come to take them first. Reckless tactics were a good way to get a hunter and their companions killed. Aizawa never did like those stories kids were told by acolytes and teachers. They were very good at speaking about glorious hunts, thrilling chases and brave victories over the creatures of the night. Only none of these stories mentioned intestines. That would ruin the bedtime tale.

Looking over to All Might, Aizawa hopes the large hunter feels the same way he does on the subject. He can’t hide the concern lining his brow when he sets eyes on Toshinori. He was deflating back to his true form steadily. One of his usual springing bangs has had the wind knocked out of it, drooping in its scraggly crooked form over the right side of his face. That side of his face looked particularly hollow, his right cheek bone protruding. The shadows under his eye had darkened, appearing more sunken and tired. A striking blue pupil peers out from that darkness.

Are you alright? Aizawa asks with a wordless stare.

All Might returned his gaze with a short nod before disguising a cough as clearing his throat.

“Young man…” He begins, “I may have been...rash in my words. A hunter, is not what would be portrayed as a hero as in tales. We are a necessary city defense, and our path is waded deep in blood.”

Relief floods Aizawa, good, for once, Toshinori and himself were on the same page with this matter. The spy looks back to the boy who now is similar to a puppet with its strings cut. A puppet that was efficiently blinded and restrained by a transformative fiber scarf. His head is bowed, wild dark bangs shadowing his eyes.

“I….I see…”  
  
“But it is a hunters sworn duty to carry that burden of blood.” All Might continues, a vigor returning to his voice, “We cultivate the power of that sacrifice into our strength through the echoes in the blood of those that came before us. That inherited strength is then used to protect the people. A hunter is a servant of the city. Not an acolyte of the church. Young man, know that hunter may hunt beasts, but the beast is always living closest to them in their hearts!”

This kid.

This reckless kid.

To move before thinking, to run out in the midst of danger to aid another, it was reckless, yes. But it was also brave, selfless. The instinct of a protector. Yharnam could use such a protector, All Might thought. It was moments like such that bred the small tales and stories to keep the nightmares at bay, and escape from nightmares was a rare thing in Yharnam.

“Yes, this path is bloodied and dark! You must hold your foundation in the face of moral compromise. There is no glory in a hunt. But will you vow to not leave the innocents of this city to the jaws of the night!?”

All Might’s voice echoes in the alleyway. It crashes against Aizawa, the words spoken in hope of protection for the city of Yharnam. It made something stir in his chest. How was Toshinori so optimistic in all of this? He was smiling boldly into the doors of the unknown with a proud strength beyond muscle and flesh.

It was the same power as the glow in his bright blue eyes.

The warm feeling soon cools. All Might wasn’t being rational. This boy...it would be cruel to subject him to the horrors of a hunt. The horrors of the dream - of death and reawakening. Aizawa didn’t like it. They were not on optimal views after all.

“I WILL!”  The boy shouts.

“No hesitation! I like that!” All Might booms a laugh that dissolves into a cough. He was becoming aware of the pain of his body, of trying to hold this form while it was threatening to dissolve around him. He straightens away from the wall, looking to the young man with a proud smile. “You can become a hunter.”

The boy’s shoulders drop again in the cocoon of bindings. Only it is not of despair this time, it is of release. The release of a great pressure that had sat on his shoulders from the conversation’s beginning. All Might, the hunter of all hunters, had eased that burden through a few words.

You can become a hunter.

You can.

“But young man…” All Might continues, making the boy raise his head, “As I said, the path of a hunter is treacherous. What you are about to look upon, you must not speak a word of to anyone. I am showing you this so that you may grasp the situation clearly.” All Might nods to Aizawa who returns that nod with an incredulous look.

Are you sure about this? Aizawa says with his eyes and raises brows behind his unkempt raven hair.

All Might gives a thumbs up. I know what I’m doing.

Rustling lightly, the binds untie themselves from around the young man. They withdraw, sliding over one another until his torso is free. The last ending rope retreats, granting the boy sight again. His green eyes dart  about, taking in what they had missed, before landing square on the figure of All Might.

“A-All….Might…!” He stammers, eyes wide. Half of the hunters face was sunken in, skeletal. One of his sprightly bangs hung limp. The longer the boy stares, the more he could make out that All Might’s form was lopsided. It was as though the right side of his body was deteriorating into nothing but tendon, making the executioners garb sag in empty sack folds.

What was wrong with All Might? This...was All Might, wasn’t it? All Might was a mighty hunter - the image of strength! Only now he was deteriorating before the boys very eyes. Thoughts dart through the young man’s mind like flashes of silverfish.  A trick? Or was All Might….?

“All Might…! You…!” The gears in his head were turning too fast with questions, giving off steam, “You’re…shrinking…!?”  
The gears click in a thought of dread.

“All Might...don’t tell me….you’re….are you sick…?”

Toshinori couldn’t help the knowing huff that escapes his chest.  
More than you would know, young man.

Still, that was for another time. Right now, the basics All Might. Just give him the basics to let him know.  
Parting the layers of his garb with thick fingers and undoing a few buttons, All Might flashes his exposed side to the young man who recoils at the sight as if he was struck. Toshinori makes sure he can see the radiating scar tissue that encompasses his left torso.

“This is an injury, I received from a particularly difficult hunt. Due to its after effects, it has left me weakened.” He curtains the wound behind the embroidered front of his coat. “I did not expect what I was up against, and it lead to my grave error. In this work, young man, you cannot assume your enemy or your situation. I will not put this lightly, you could very well die pursuing this path.”  
  
Once the marred mass of tissue was hidden away, the boy could tear his eyes back to All Might’s face. In the past, He had been unfortunate enough to see a dog have its head bashed in by a passing carriage. Such a short time to view the image, yet it was pictured perfect in his mind to this day. The way the dog spun a perfect circle in the air, blood spewing from its mouth all the while. It would be the same with this scar, he was sure of it. It’s blooming stitches and sutures would remain clear in his memory. Unconsciously or in a pang ghostly empathy, his hand hovers over his own side.

“I know...I know...but…” His hands ball into fists as he shouts back at the towering hunter, “I want this! I want to be a hunter!”

Aizawa had stood by in silence, watching the interaction with an air of disapproval. He turns his cool, grey eyes to All Might. Most might rethink their position of occupation after seeing you could lose a good percentage of your guts. Yet, All Might was encouraging this child. Aizawa didn’t like it, and he would let that fact be known the moment he and All Might were alone.

That moment came soon, as All Might told the young man to head home but return tomorrow at sundown to the round plaza square if he was serious about his hunter journey. All Might himself was struggling to keep what he could of his muscled appearance before the child. His form collapses and shifts into himself the moment he and Aizawa are  alone. He takes afew shuddering breaths, a large hand on his chest as he catches air in his one lung.

“I suppose you thought that was a good idea.” Aizawa says cooly as he moves past All Might to exit the alley. Before he would have had his back flushed to the cold brick to inch by the hunter’s bulk but now in his thin form, the spy could step around Toshinori as a lamp post.

“Aizawa, don’t tell me I’m in for a lecture now…” All Might’s voice sounds winded as he follows the spy out of the brick walls into the a back street. “I meant what I said. That kid has spirit, and a bold spirit is needed for hunters work. He has potential, don't you agree?”

“You’re quick to favor him due to his actions...which were reckless.” Aizawa says, a knife tip hidden in the comment that found its target as Toshinori flinches at the words. Aizawa moves onward. “Its cruel to die for your dreams.”

The rest of the walk to Toshinoris home is done is silence between the two. Toshinori can feel the disgruntlement coming off Aizawa beside him as when cat's fur pin pricks off its body. He knew the spy had more to say, but was keeping it to himself.

It would come out at another time, after Aizawa had time to think about the confrontation. Plan it.

If you have something to say, just say it. All Might's blue gaze locks into the spy perhaps in hopes his own internal dialogue would be picked up.

Both men are surprised when they find a crow garbed hunter sitting on the steps in front of Toshinoris home. The feathers lining the long cloak gleam in the waning dusk light. A pale plague doctors mask raises to spot them when they come close.

“Tsukauchi, you’re here?” Toshinori approaches first, “Is there anything wrong my friend?”

“No,” Tsukauchi answers, “There is nothing wrong on my terms. But my master…”  
  
“She has a bone to pick.”

A woman’s voice slips in from behind the hunter and the spy. The two turn and their eyes meet another crow garbed figure. Only unlike Tsukauchi, her black coat has greyed at its edges. Knicks and carves from old battles speckle the leather. An old bird with dulling plumage and feathers plucked away. Toshinori and Aizawa can feel her inspecting them from behind her plague doctor’s mask.

“Let’s have a chat...Aizawa Shouta and Yagi Toshinori.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> After some consideration Ive decided to add the Bloodborne characters to this crossover. More great characters cant be a bad thing I hope. This chapter is abit lack luster but, its necessary. If you're still reading, thank you for sticking around this long.


	3. Meeting the Master Crow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aizawa and Toshinori meet the master of Tsukauchi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is abit of a detour but will be important later. I mean...introing Eileen is important and her just being a bird mom.  
> Not feeling the best about this chapter but alas.

She didn’t remove her mask, which made her presence in Toshinoris home all the more mysterious. From the sound of her voice, she was a woman in her late years. When she spoke, her voice was full, a bird spreading its wings, yet those wings creaked in their joints and were missing feathers that had lost their lustered shine. Her black coat was covered in the marks of blades and claws, the leather greyed and palid at its torn edges. They were the signs of a hunter who had aged with the hunt.

It was something All Might could relate to, but besides this woman being Tsukauchi’s master, he knew nothing about this crow.

One the other hand, she seemed to know about him.

“You’re tellin’ me, this is All Might?” The crow spoke incredulously. She stood in front of Toshinori who slouched, trying to look small, in the rooms center as if on display.

“Its as I said.” Tsukauchi explains to her, “I wouldn’t have told you unless it was true. Frankly...I wouldn’t have told you at all unless I felt I could trust you.” 

“You would’ve told me one way or another. I would have made you.”

“Made him?” Aizawa questions from his spot against the wall. If Toshinori was the work of attention, Aizawa was the student who would sneak out the moment the teacher wasn’t looking for a smoke. It was a well trained act of feigned disinterest. But the spy knew should this woman try anything offensive, he would have her immobilized in seconds with his restraint cloth.

“If a hunter like All Might is sick then it’s my duty to know.” She replies curtly, turning her beaked mask to Aizawa. “An’ you, who are you? I haven’t seen your like around. ...It makes me nervous.” 

“He works with the church,” All Might answers meekly for Aizawa, “He is partnered with me currently until further notice--”

“I am a spy of the church.” Aizawa states plainly in his usual deadpan voice, “You’d be correct to be nervous. That doesn’t agitate the situation, does it?” His grey eyes gleam something of a challenge.

If anyone was nervous it was Toshinori. It was likely a bad idea to say a church spy was in the room as it would be a poor decision to out yourself as an arsonist in front of an official. Despite the fact that Aizawa was more a free agent nowadays, after the church tried to have Toshinori dispose of him. One might change loyalties after such an event.

Still, Aizawa had thrown All Mights plan to neatly divert the crows question out the window.

“It may.” She says cooly, “That all depends on if what Tsukauchi says is true.” The beak points back at Toshinori. “Can y’prove that you are All Might?”  
  
All Might opens his mouth to speak but hesitates. His blue eyes shift over to Tsukauchi. The man was his friend long before any of this started. Long before he had to hide his withered form, he had trusted this crow hunter with his life.

Tsukauchi nods to Toshinori, his dark eyes stern, yet genuine in their intent.

After a small sigh, Toshinori locks eyes with the crow and he speaks: “I can.”   


She folds her arms, the old leather on her garb creaks with complaints as she cocks her head.

“Then I’m quite eager t’see how.”

Toshinori steps back once, as if giving everyone in the room enough space. Then, he begins to straighten from his usual slouch. He grows, his spine continuing to stretch to his full towering height. As he does so, his body expands and swells with a squelching sound of growing muscle. He fills out his white undershirt until it Is tight over bulging muscles. It was a quick shift of form and All Might now stands where a sickly figure once did.

The room is quiet and still, waiting.

“Did I answer your question efficiently?” All Might asks, his voice carrying deeper, fuller, with his chest blown out.

The crow says nothing.

Her plague doctor mask obscures any readable expression on her face. She moves forward, slowly, towards All Might. On reaction, Aizawa grabs the cuff of his restraint cloth, ready to counter, but Tsukauchi holds out an open palm like a guard gate.

A stop sign.

Don’t.

Wait.

Once the crow is nearly toe to toe with the large hunter, she raises her hands slowly. The motion wasn’t rushed or forceful. It glided at a steady pace to give plenty of time to speak its intention.

“Come down here, please.”

All Might obliges, bending over so she may reach. He feels the worn, softened leather covering her hands on his jaw when she takes it in her palms. She turns his head to the left.

‘Hmm…”

Then the right.

“Hmm…”  
  
“Ah...ma’m…” Toshinori tries to speak up.

“Shush.” The crow whispers, her hands glide down to his impossibly broad shoulders where they rest briefly. As slowly and easily as she reached out, she withdraws. Toshinori can still smell what he guessed was the remnants of dried, old ink and herbs from her closeness.

“May I see your side, please?”

All Might clears his throat. If for any reason, to fill the awkward lack of sound in the room. He leans back up and is surprised that his shoulder blades are nearly at the wall now. He was struck as if with a cast iron pan when reminded this was a hunter of hunters in front of him - a _veteran_ hunter of hunters.

Relax, All Might. She hasn’t tried to gut you yet.

With large, thick fingers, Toshinori undoes the buttons of his shirt on his left side. He sweeps aside the fabric, and for the second time this day, he shows the ruined scar tissue on his torso to the world. He can’t tell where the crow is looking, the thin eye slits of her mask prevent that, but he guesses she is taking in an eye full of the wound.

She doesn’t attempt to reach or touch, she only studies with her eyes.

“Hmm…”

  
A pause.

“I’ve seen enough.” She wafts a hand in dismissal. “Finally, your bandaged arm.”

Subconsciously, All Might clenches and releases a fist on his left arm. This was the part of the crow’s inspection that had him worried. Why did hunters of hunters take down other hunters? When the blood went to their heads and they were no better than the beasts they slayed. Hunters hunted beasts. It only made sense hunters made the most dangerous beasts. Concealed under the bandage on his arm was enough condemning evidence of Toshinori’s own infection.

A single dangerously blue glowing pupil peered out from the shadows under All Might’s blonde brows.

“What will you do when I show you, Miss Crow?” The tremor in his voice was capable of making any hunter tremble in their boots. That deep timbre remained steady, even. Not a hint of aggression.

“That will depend on what I find.” She states, her tone equally placid. “Now, if y’would please.”   
  
All Might takes a seat, the furniture creaks loudly under his weight. Those fingers on shovel sized hands get to work again, with more delicate tasks no one would have thought possible of them. He unwinds the bandages over his arm, the pieces sloughing off in strips on the hardwood floor. Slowly, like unwrapping some sort of sweet, All Might’s arm became visible. There was nothing sweet about the state of it. The flesh was still pale, continuing to crawl up to his bicep now. It made the muscles look like thick ropes underneath, veins visible like a map. Thick blonde hair was still growing from his forearm, its scraggly coarse texture undeniable from the common scourge symptom. A the end of those thick fingers, despite being filed down to stubby tips, Toshinori’s nails were a pearly deep black.  

The crows expression is unintelligible, hidden behind her plague doctor mask that smelled of a brew of herbs.

“How are your teeth?” She asks.

“Canines are abit pointy but...I’m not going to be biting anyone, Miss Crow.” All Might attempt a lopsided smile to the older woman.

“Hmm…”  
  
Hmm. It had been the word she had said the most. ‘Hmm.’ A dull hum. It was a comment of little resolution. Of little promise. Yet it also could be a sound waning compromise.

The crow takes All Mights infected arm in her hands. She pets over the thick hair. Then using her thumb, she presses lightly from the wrist up, all the way to the dip where the forearm connects to the elbow.

“This is the same body as the one I just saw?”

“Is that hard to believe?” All Might keeps his smile.

She pauses, that beak turns up to look at him in silent contemplation.

“I can find you under all this bulk, aye.” Her beak turns back down, and then takes one of his hands. It takes two of hers to hold his single palm.

Quiet since the inspection began, Aizawa and Tsukauchi glance at each other briefly. Both feeling the churn of worry for their friend that wouldn’t appear on their faces.

The crow pats the back of Toshinoris shovel sized hand. “You’ve been goin’ through a lot of changes eh?”  
  
“Not all of them wanted.” All Might tries a wry smile again. “But I see you’re still keeping up the job as well.”   
  
She laughs. It’s a chuckle in her throat, a velvety sound.

“It appears we both aren’t ready to retire yet.” She says, a softness to the tone. That warmness emanating from the crow suddenly drops in temperature as she stands straight. “I’m only gonta say this gently because I do appreciate your work, Yagi Toshinori. Train this apprentice of yours well, but then, I don’t want t’see you out on the streets anymore.”

“Now miss...see here…” All Might begins.

“No I won’t. This work is gettin' too dangerous for you t’be out there swingin’ away at beasts.” The crow folds her arms.

“Forgive me, miss crow,” All Might speaks again, “but perhaps it would be wise to take your own advice? Is Tsukauchi not ready to take on the mantle of your work?”

The feathers lining the crows garb nearly seem to bristle. The flickering flame of candles in the room catches their dull shine and scurries on their surface it were many crawling beetles.

“That is none of your business Mr. Hunter.” She brandishes a sharp point to her words, “You all puffed up like this may fool some, but I won' fool me.”

After a moment, the crow exhales, smoothing down her ruffled plumage.

“I am tired, Toshinori. Tired of seein’ the blood of my friends on my blades. I’m not eager t’be wanting t’add yharnam’s greatest hunter to their stains.”

Turning, the crow begins for the rooms exit with slow steps. The sound of her boots on the hardwood floor is a solemn noise. She stops in front of Aizawa, looking at him through her plague mask.

She holds out a palm to the spy.

”Let me see yer hands.”

Aizawa raises a brow but does as he is told, extending his hands to the crow for her scrutiny.

She takes them gently, the kind of gentleness that daftly acrobats blades on the fingers. She turns over his hands top, then bottom and runs a thumb down his palm.

“ Somethin’ bout your eyes...an’ your hands.”  
  
“What about them?” Aizawa asks.

“They’re too trustworthy to be a spy’s.” The crow releases his hands. “ So...I’ll trust you to help keep him out of trouble. You too, Tsukauchi...he may listen to the two of you better than m’self.”

At the door to the home she stops again.

“There’s a full moon two days from now.” 

Leaving much how she appeared, a trail of her raven feathers following her exit from the home. The clunk of the door shutting vibrates through the walls and into the three men. The crow leaves only the sounds of Yharnam to creep in through the windows, the nightly sounds of a hunt underway.


End file.
